A month after releasing the Titan II Windows Phone handset, HTC is back with its highly anticipated Android phone—the One X. In this week's episode of Cracking Open, I show you what's inside the HTC One X and why it can be a real pain to work on.

Cracking Open observations

Single-piece back cover: Given that the One X and Titan II look alike and are both from HTC, it seemed logical that they would have a similar internal design and be cracked open in roughly the same manner. But no. Unlike the Titan II, which has a three piece cover held on with screws, the One X has a single piece cover which snaps onto the device's frame. I used a thin metal tool to pop the cover loose from the display/frame assembly and then lifted the display and frame away from the cover.

Not a Titan II clone: The One X may look like the Titan II on the outside, but it's different on the inside. The main circuit board is mounted above the battery and partially protected by an internal cover. The board extends along the phone's left edge and eventually meets up with a smaller board, which houses the phone's docking connector contacts.

Not DIY repair friendly: Instead of conveniently placing the battery and display assembly connectors on the side of the motherboard that faces the phone's outer cover, the One X's designers put connectors on both sides of the board. This arrangement makes it difficult to re-attach the connectors when you're putting the phone back together, and it means you'll need to remove the motherboard to replace the battery. Why HTC did this on the One X when they didn't do it the Titan II is beyond me?

U.S. version lacks quad-core processor: The U.S. version of the One X has a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm S4 processor. Which, I find a bit disappointing as the European variant has a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. But, the loss of raw processing power may have an upside. The One X's Qualcomm chip contains both the application processor and a 3G/LTE modem. This eliminates the Tegra 3's need for a separate LTE modem chip. Given that both variants have a battery with the same capacity (1,800 mAh), U.S. buyers may get better battery life. And as CNET's Brian Bennett notes, the One X "flies through Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and HTC's Sense overlay with oomph and agility."

Bottom Line

Despite its lack of a quad-core processor and microSD card slot, and my complaints about its internal design, the One X gives U.S. Android fans a lot to be happy about. As of this writing, it's available for between $149 and $199 (with a two-year AT&T contract) or $629 without.

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About Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop supp...

Disclosure

Bill Detwiler has nothing to disclose. He doesn't hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Full Bio

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop support specialist in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention.